PREEN-TAIL DAY
YESTERDAY was preen-tail day (tailie) – traditionally the day after April Fools’ day, or Huntegowk, in Scotland. The Dictionaries of the Scots Lanquage (DSL) defines preen-tail day as: “the day following All Fools' Day when paper tails were attached to the backs of unsuspecting persons as a joke”. The “tails” were usually inscribed with a message. What sort of message is not recorded, but presumably nothing very flattering as, indeed, is recorded in the Glasgow Bulletin of April 1954: “Tailie Day was always held after Hunt the Gowk Day. The tails carried boldly printed invitations to ‘kick me hard’ or ‘pull my pigtails’..